American Kensei Matsudaira Takes Another Top 5 Finish at Estoril, Portugal for ESBK Moto4 Championship Round 4
In his first outing to Circuito Estoril in Portugal, 12-year-old American Kensei Matsudaira began the race weekend with tricky conditions with intermittent rain making the first three practice sessions wet. However, Kensei showed his strong pace after a single dry free practice by topping the qualifying charts for most of the session and finally qualifying in second place just 0.05 second off pole, his best qualifying result of the season.
In Race One held on Saturday, Kensei finished in fifth place only 0.5 second from the winner after fighting through a race-long battle in the 15-rider top group. However, he was demoted to sixth after a one-position penalty for exceeding track limits on the final lap was applied.
Sunday morning was another tricky affair with a wet warmup session, but Kensei again demonstrated strong pace in Race Two held in the afternoon in dry conditions by making a charge from sixth on the grid to lead the race on lap seven, and fought in the top positions until the finish line where he was drafted past and lost two positions at the finish line. Kensei finished the race in fifth, just 0.1 second from the race winner and losing out on the podium by just a few hundredths of a second.
“Race One was difficult, the pace was slower than I expected and there was so much passing going on that it was difficult to make proper fast laps. Definitely a little different than the other races and I learned a lot riding 2-3 wide in every corner,” Kensei said after the races. “In Race Two the finishing position was the same but this was so much better, I was fighting in the front and lead the race as well. The battles were intense, lots of contact and many times I thought I might crash but I kept it together to the end. I’m not happy about getting bumped off the podium but I’m happy with how I was able to race hard with the top guys and be right there, especially for my first time at this circuit. This definitely gives me more confidence for the future.”
Round Five of the RFME ESBK championship will be held at Circuito de Navarra in Los Arcos, Spain on September 16-17, 2023.
Kensei and the Evike.com Nox#27 Racing Team would like to thank all of Kensei’s sponsors for their support this year: Evike.com, Evike Europe, HJC Helmets, Dave Designs, Almassera El Teular, OrangeCat Racing, Iconic Motorbikes, Bison Track, Moto Tecnica, Karen E. Ott Photography, BSP Racing, American Racing Team & Academy, The Starting Grid, TJ Corse, VNM Sport, NLAB Studio, California Superbike School, MadLabs Minimoto, Hans King, 73 Moto Parts, D.I.D Chain, Galfer USA, Bickle Racing, Yoshimura R&D, Vortex Racing, Suspension Matters, Moto Survival School, Live 100 Moto, TechSpec, Landers Racing, Boyko Racing, Mini Moto Alliance
